New Devils coach found!

Look, we don’t want him here! End of!!
I doubt ibbz does either but in fairness he/she has given a bit of balance and perspective to some of the factual claims and rumours spouted on here.
SK has already said it’s not tommo anyway so time to move on from him.
Agree with moggy about a coach more in the systems, details and tactical mould of Lordo myself
 

Devil94

Well-Known Member
The owners have made a few references to this guy's personality and character. Maybe its some who is known for entertaining interviews or Twitter account?
 

kingmo19.1

Well-Known Member
Just seen Thommo in Morrison’s down the bay with 2 big bottles of Champagne in his shopping basket. He was waltzing around the store smiling like a Cheshire Cat ! He was singing to himself that Chumawumba Classic :-

I get knocked down,
But I get up again,
Your never gonna keep me down .....

:)
 

Ibbz9

Active Member
Just seen Thommo in Morrison’s down the bay with 2 big bottles of Champagne in his shopping basket. He was waltzing around the store smiling like a Cheshire Cat ! He was singing to himself that Chumawumba Classic :-

I get knocked down,
But I get up again,
Your never gonna keep me down .....

:)
If you saw his smile, I hope you asked why he was not wearing a mask ;-)
 

kingmo19.1

Well-Known Member
If you saw his smile, I hope you asked why he was not wearing a mask ;-)
He was definitely wearing a mask, one of those ones with a Big Smile printed onto the fabric.

He also had a big shiny Pen in his top pocket, a special expensive one that you might sign a contract with!

On the mask, it also said:-

On the left side #1 Coach
And on the right side #Serial Winner

At the checkout, I could hear him talking on his mobile, I’m sure it was “Yep Dave, Hook line and sinker, yep your in also as head of PR, put the word out to the Whistle Brothers and Mike Duco - the big boss is back” !
 

JC23

Well-Known Member
This article suggests not only new to the Elite League, but also someone who has been a head coach previously, as we have apparently interviewed players he has formally coached, and GM’s he’s worked with.
 
This article suggests not only new to the Elite League, but also someone who has been a head coach previously, as we have apparently interviewed players he has formally coached, and GM’s he’s worked with.
So he's not a rookie in the managerial game then? Someone more experienced?
 

Devil94

Well-Known Member
I'll just throw 2 names out there.

Gordie Dwyer. A coach with a good pedigree and experience, maybe looking for a job back in European pro hockey. Todd and Lordo had nothing but good things to say about him when he came to town with Zagreb.
https://www.eliteprospects.com/staff/5051/gordie-dwyer

Richard Matvichuk. Huge pedigree as a player. Maybe looking to restart his pro coaching career, the Devils would be a good stepping stone for him. Hasn't coached a team for a couple of seasons but coaches his own private hockey club in BC.
https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/8970/richard-matvichuk
 

Rempel16

Well-Known Member
With the Devils it would be more like the Blaze days. Players would be settled and not getting gassed every few weeks.

As for Neal Martin running the team. That is incorrect. He ran the team no more than Hotham or Fournier did. Your key players will always be the ones making decisions on the ice, especially your mobile D-Men.

After AC/DC he won plenty more trophies. I think people simply have a view based on his post game interviews after a loss plus being coach of a main rival.

As for his poor last season that was mainly down to goaltending. A coach/team is only as good as the netminder. Jackson Whistle was not an EIHL starter.

As for Budget, that may or may not be true, but factor in that budget to what the Devils/Giants/Panthers were using and it may have been far less. We do not know. Looking at the make up of the 4 teams that season, based on NHL/KHL/AHL experience, you would assume Sheffield had the 4th biggest budget, but we will never know.

Did he get outcoached by Lord? In certain games yes. Not all of them though. His style was usually agressive. Payette/Fitzgerald, Armstrong with net crashing. Devils fans hated it but we loved Matt Miller doing exactly the same thing as Armstrong.
Why would it be more like the Blaze days?? The way has team played in those days had nothing to do with them being settled. He had them coached in a certain method. I don't think that method he employs has worked since 2010... Why? Because the game has changed and he's failed to change with it.

The Neal Martin rumours were that he took most of the coaching sessions - so actually nothing like the way Hotham or Fournier ran the team.

What did he win after AC/DC ? Might be wrong but the last time he won anything was 2009/10.... Both were in that roster. (playoff final aside).

A bit harsh to put his poor last season down to goaltending and place the blame solely on Jackson Whistle... He didn't recruit a balanced defence, he recruited forwards that he couldn't motivate and quite frankly got it spectacularly wrong... ''But it was never his fault''. I'm surprised he had a team left with the number that he threw under the bus night after night.

Ok, I'll play your budget game. He had the 4th biggest budget - finished 7th.... That's an awful return.

I think you can make arguments for any coach outcoaching another coach on a given night, but I didn't ever get the impression that his post 2008 teams were particularly aggressive. Fitzgerald was allowed to make his own decisions imo, much like Bordy initially before Lord put the reins on him.
Agreed about Matt Miller, although I don't think he ever intentionally took out a goalie the way that Armstrong did to Bowns in that playoff final.
 

KaneDevils

Well-Known Member
I’ll be very surprised if it’s Hendrikx. Didn’t Kelman say a while ago that we had 70 or 80 interested candidates and some of the CV’s were very impressive? So you’d have to be surprised if Hendrikx was the stand out individual. If we were still in the BBT and we were mid table mediocrity then I wouldn’t be surprised to see Hendrikx but surely there’s been a lot of interest in this job.
Don’t get me wrong if we’ve interviewed several candidates and Hendrikx was the best candidate then great but that will be a big surprise.
This is what I've said. The appointment appears to be one highly qualified and impressive sounding. I cant see a former player coming near that kind of hype.
 

moggy#9

Well-Known Member
I'll just throw 2 names out there.

Gordie Dwyer. A coach with a good pedigree and experience, maybe looking for a job back in European pro hockey. Todd and Lordo had nothing but good things to say about him when he came to town with Zagreb.
https://www.eliteprospects.com/staff/5051/gordie-dwyer

Richard Matvichuk. Huge pedigree as a player. Maybe looking to restart his pro coaching career, the Devils would be a good stepping stone for him. Hasn't coached a team for a couple of seasons but coaches his own private hockey club in BC.
https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/8970/richard-matvichuk
Wow, Gordie Dwyer would be impressive. Ticks all the boxes including European knowledge and lots of connections.
 
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